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John Agard
| birth_place = British Guiana | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = playwright, poet and children's writer | language = English | nationality = Guyanese | ethnicity = Afro-Guyanese | citizenship = Jamaican | education = St Albans Academy | alma_mater = | period = | genre = | subject = | movement = | notableworks = | spouse = | children = | relatives = | influences = | influenced = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | portaldisp = }} John Agard (born 21 June 1949) is an Afro-Guyanese poet, playwright, and children's writer, now living in Britain. In 2012, he was selected for the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry."Poet John Agard is selected for Queen's poetry medal", BBC News, 20 December 2012. Background Agard grew up in Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana). He loved to listen to cricket commentary on the radio and began making up his own, which led to a love of language. He went on to study English, French and Latin at A-level, writing his first poetry when he was in sixth-form. Leaving school in 1967, he taught the languages he had studied and worked in a local library. He was also a sub-editor and feature writer for the Guyana Sunday Chronicle, publishing two books while still in Guyana.John Agard profile at Jubilee Books. His father settled in London and Agard moved to Britain with his partner Grace Nichols in 1977, settling in Ironbridge, Shropshire. He worked for the Commonwealth Institute and the BBC in London. His awards include the 1997 Paul Hamlyn Award for Poetry,Awards for Artists, Paul Hamlyn Foundation. the Cholmondeley Award in 2004 and the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 2012. Agard was Poet-in-Residence at the National Maritime Museum in 2008. His poem Half Caste has been featured in the AQA English GCSE anthology since 2002, meaning that many students (aged 14 – 16) have studied his work for their GCSE English qualification. Agard now lives in Rye, East Sussex. ''Anthologise'' annual competition for schools In 2011 Agard was a member of the first ever judging panel for a new schools poetry competition named Anthologise, spearheaded by Poet Laureate Carol-Ann Duffy. School students aged 11–18 from around Britain were invited to create and submit their own anthologies of published poetry. The first winners of Anthologise were the sixth-form pupils of Monkton Combe School, Bath, with their anthology entitled The Poetry of Earth is Never Dead.Anthologise.co.uk. Retrieved on 15 February 2013. Recognition *1982: Casa de las Américas Prize (Cuba) for Man to Pan *1987: Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (shortlist) for Lend Me Your Wings *1995: Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (Bronze Award) (6–8 years category) for We Animals Would Like a Word With You *1997: Paul Hamlyn Award for Poetry *2003: Cholmondeley Award *2007: British Book Awards Decibel Writer of the Year (shortlist) for We Brits *2009: Centre for Literacy in Primary Education poetry award for The Young Inferno."Carol Ann Duffy to judge Old Possum's prize". The Guardian, 14 July 2009. Retrieved on 15 February 2013. *2012: Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry"Poet John Agard is selected for Queen's poetry medal". BBC News (20 December 2012). Retrieved on 15 February 2013. Publications Poetry *''Shoot Me with Flowers''. Guyana?: privately printed, 1974. *''Man to Pan''. Havana, Cuba: Casa de las Américas, 1982. *''Livingroom''. London: Black Ink Collective, 1983. *''Limbo Dancer in Dark Glasses''. Lewes, Sussex, UK: Greenheart, 1983. *''Mangoes and Bullets: Selected and new poems, 1972–84''. London: Pluto Press, 1985. *''Loveliness for a Goat-Borne Lady''. London: Serpent's Tail, 1990. *''A Stone's Throw from Embankment: The South Bank collection''. London: Royal Festival Hall, 1993. *''From the Devil's Pulpit''. Tarset, Northumberland, UK: Bloodaxe, 1997. *''We Brits''. Tarset, Northumberland, UK: Bloodaxe, 2006. *''Alternative Anthem: Selected poems'' (with DVD). Tarset, Northumberland, UK: Bloodaxe, 2009. *''Weblines''. Tarset, Northumberland, UK: Bloodaxe, 2000. *''Clever Backbone''. Tarset, Northumberland, UK: Bloodaxe, 2009. *''Equiano's Epigrams: 'The Interesting Alternative' in poetry''. London: Crosspath, 2009. *''Travel Light, Travel Dark''. Tarset, Northumberland, UK: Bloodaxe, 2013. Juvenile *''Letters for Lettie, and other stories''. London: Bodley Head, 1979. *''Dig Away Two-Hole Tim'' (illustrated by Jennifer Northway). London: Bodley Head, 1981. *''I Din Do Nuttin, and other poems'' (illustrated by Susanna Gretz). London: Bodley Head, 1983. *''Say It Again, Granny! Twenty poems from Caribbean proverbs'' (illustrated by Susanna Gretz). London: Bodley Head, 1986. *''Lend Me Your Wings'' (illustrated by Adrienne Kennaway). London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1987; Boston: Little, Brown, 1987. *''The Calypso Alphabet'' (illustrated by Jennifer Bent). New York: Holt, 1989; Collins, 1990. *''Go, Noah, Go!'' (illustrated by Judy Brown). London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1990. *''Laughter is an Egg'' (illustrated by Alan Rowe). London: Puffin, 1991. *''The Emperor's Dan-dan'' (illustrated by Alison Forsythe). London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1992. *''The Great Snakeskin'' (illustrated by Jill Newton). Aylesbury, UK: Ginn, 1993. *''Granfather's Old Bruk-a-Down Car'' (illustrated by Kevin Dean). London: Bodley Head, 1994. *''The Monster Who Loved Cameras'' (illustrated by Jenny Stow). Harlow, UK: Longman, 1994. *''The Monster Who Loved Telephones'' (illustrated by Jenny Stow). Harlow, UK: Longman, 1994. *''The Monster Who Loved Toothbrushes'' (illustrated by Jenny Stow). Harlow, UK: Longman, 1994. *''Get Back, Pimple!. London: Viking, 1996. *''We Animals Would Like a Word With You (illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura). London: Bodley Head, 1996. *''Another Day on Your Foot and I Would Have Died'' (illustrated by Colin McNaughton). London: Macmillan, 1997. *''Oriki and the Monster Who Hated Balloons''. London: Addison-Wesley, 1998. *''Brer Rabbit: The Great Tug-o-war'' (illustrated by Korky Paul). London: Bodley Head, 1998. *''Points of View with Professor Peekabo'' (illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura). London: Bodley Head, 2000. *''Come Back to Me My Boomerang'' (illustrated by Lydia Monks). London: Orchard, 2001. *''Hello, New! New poems for a new century'' (illustrated by Lydia Monks). London: Orchard, 2002. *''Einstein, The Girl Who Hated Maths'' (illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura). London: Hodder Wayland, 2002. *''Hello H20: Poems'' (illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura). London: Hodder Wayland, 2003. *''Half-Caste, and other poems''. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2005. *''Wriggle Piggy Toes'' (illustrated by Jennifer Bent). London: Frances Lincoln, 2006. *''Butter-Finger'' (with Bob Cattell; illustrated by Pam Smy). London: Frances Lincoln, 2006. *''Shine On, Butter-Finger'' (with Bob Cattell; illustrated by Pam Smy). Frances Lincoln, 2007. *''The Young Inferno'' (illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura). London: Frances Lincoln, 2008. *''Twinkle, Twinkle, Firefly'' (with Grace Nichols; illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura). London: Collins, 2010. *''Goldilocks on CCTV'' (illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura). London: Frances Lincoln, 2011. Edited *''Life Doesn't Frighten Me At All: Poems''. London: Heinemann, 1989; New York: Holt, 1989. *''A Caribbean Dozen: Poems from 13 Caribbean poets'' (edited with Grace Nichols). London: Walker, 1994; Cambridge, MA: Candlewick, 1994. *''No Hickory, No Dickory, No Dock: Caribbean nursery rhymes'' (edited with Grace Nichols). London: Viking, 1995; Cambridge, MA: Candlewick, 1995. *''Poems in My Earphone''. Harlow, UK: Longman, 1995. *''Why is the Sky?'' (illustrated by Andrzej Klimowski). London: Faber, 1996 *''A Child's Year of Stories and Poems'' (with Michael Rosen and Robert Frost). Viking Children's Books, 2000 *''Hello New!: New Poems for a New Century''. Orchard, 2000 *''Under the Moon and Over the Sea: A collection of Caribbean poems'' (edited with Grace Nichols). London: Walker, 2002; Cambridge, MA: Candlewick, 2002. *''From Mouth to Mouth: Oral poems from around the world'' (edited with Grace Nichols; illustrated by Annabel Wright). London: Walker, 2004. *''Tiger Dead! Tiger Dead!: Stories from the Caribbean'' (with Grace Nichols; illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura). London: Collins, 2008. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:John Agard, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Mar. 14, 2014. See also *List of British poets References External links ;Poems *"Half-Caste" *Poems by John Agard at the National Maritime Museum *John Agard Poems at Taylor & Francis Online ;Audio / video *John Agard (b.1949) at The Poetry Archive *John Agard at YouTube ;About *John Agard in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature *John Agard at the British Council *John Agard at Bloodaxe Books *John Agard (1949-) at the AQA Digital Anthology *"John Agard: Making Waves at the BBC". The Poetry Society. Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:Black British writers Category:Black Guyanese people Category:British poets Category:British children's writers Category:British dramatists and playwrights Category:Guyanese writers Category:Guyanese poets Category:English people of Guyanese descent Category:Postcolonial literature Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Category:Cholmondeley Award winners Category:20th-century poets Category:21st-century poets Category:Caribbean poets Category:Children's poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets